UK productivity showing sustained improvement, economists say
The think tank said output per hour rose 1.1% a year over two years, but analysts still see no single clear driver.
- On Monday, the Resolution Foundation reported that UK output per hour rose 1.1 per cent annually over the two years to June 2026, reversing a 0.7 per cent annual decline in the prior two years.
- Data reliability concerns prompted the Office for National Statistics to recommend using tax data in June, after pandemic-era survey response rates declined significantly, complicating traditional productivity measurement.
- Bruna Skarica, chief UK economist at Morgan Stanley, estimates private-sector productivity growth reached 1.8 per cent annually, approaching the pace seen before the 2008 financial crisis.
- Similar trends are emerging in Britain as in the United States, though Skarica noted the US improvement began roughly a year earlier than Britain's recovery.
- Rising productivity is essential for maintaining higher living standards and offsetting fiscal headwinds from Britain's ageing population, with the Resolution Foundation describing the improvement as broad-based.
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UK Productivity Finally Turning the Corner After Years of Stagnation
Britain’s long-running productivity slump may at last be easing. Economists who have pored over the latest data say output per hour worked is showing signs of genuine, sustained gains after nearly two decades of disappointment that began with the 2008 financial crisis and deepened during the pandemic. The shift matters. Higher productivity lifts living standards. It also helps the public finances cope with the twin pressures of an ageing populat…
UK productivity showing sustained improvement, economists say
Britain's economic productivity is starting to show signs of sustained improvement, economists said on Monday, potentially marking the end of a prolonged slump that began around the 2008 financial crisis and appeared to worsen after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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